Abstract-Cavities play a fundamental role in wave phenomena from quantum mechanics to electromagnetism and dictate the spatiotemporal physics of lasers. In general, they are constructed by closing all "doors" through which waves can escape. We report, at room temperature, a bound state in the continuum laser that harnesses optical modes residing in the radiation continuum but nonetheless may possess arbitrarily high quality factors. These counterintuitive cavities are based on resonantly trapped symmetry-compatible modes that destructively interfere. Our experimental demonstration opens exciting avenues towards coherent sources with intriguing topological properties for optical trapping, biological imaging, and quantum communication.
Exceptional points (EPs) are degeneracies in open wave systems where at least two energy levels and their corresponding eigenstates coalesce. We report evidence of the existence of EPs in 3D plasmonic nanostructures. The systems are composed of coupled plasmonic nanoresonators and can be judiciously and systematically driven to EPs by controlling symmetry-compatible modes via their near-field and far-field interactions. The proposed platform opens the way to the investigation of EPs for enhanced light-matter interactions and applications in communication, sensing and imaging.
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